Urban education challenges aired at UMass Dartmouth forum

DARTMOUTH — Issues such as bilingual education, focusing on early childhood education and college readiness are critical to the state's Gateway Cities, school and civic leaders said at an urban education forum Friday.

DARTMOUTH — Issues such as bilingual education, focusing on early childhood education and college readiness are critical to the state's Gateway Cities, school and civic leaders said at an urban education forum Friday.

Two panels at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth discussed education issues facing the mid-sized urban areas in Massachusetts, focusing on New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton and Brockton.

Colleen Dawicki, project manager of the Urban Initiative and a fellow of the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, said she saw the forum as an opportunity to connect area organizations and individuals to MassINC and to one another. She said it was a meeting where goals could be identified to face collaboratively.

Cabral said during his remarks that education lays the groundwork for successful economic development, and said universal pre-kindergarten education is no longer a luxury but is now "a must."

After the forum, Cabral said the first step toward universal pre-K is making full-day kindergarten compulsory. He said while he has proposed universal early childhood education before, the common pushback he usually hears is that it would be too costly. Cabral said cities that want better education outcomes must invest in programs like early education.

New Bedford Superintendent Pia Durkin attended the forum and said that it was helpful.

"Capturing the conditions, challenges and hopes of this region allows us to have a collective sense of support," Durkin said.